Wire-fence-weaving machine



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W. A. HOLMES. WlRE FENCE WEVING MGHINE. No. 590,484. Patented Sept.21,1897.

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W. A. HOLMES.

WIRE FENCE WBAVING MACHINE.

No. 590,484. Patented Sept. 21,1897.

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W. A. HOLMES. WIRE PBNGE WEAVING MACHINE.

No. 590,484. Patented Sept. 21,1897.

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5 Sheets-Sheet 4.

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W'. A. HOLMES.

vWIRE FENCE WEAVING MACHINE.

Patented Sept. 21,1897.

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W. A. HOLMES. y WIRE FENCE WBAVING MACHINE. No. 590,484. Patented Sept.21,1897.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VESLEY A. HOLMES, OF CADIZ, OHIO.

WIRE-FENCE-WEAVING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 590,484, datedSeptember 21, 1897. Appiiaion ned raam-12,1397. serrano. 623,171.(Numtel.)

T all whom t 11mg/ concern,.-

Beit known that I, WESLEY A. HOLMES, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cadiz, in the county of Harris-on and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Portable TireFence-\Veaving Machines; and I do hereby declare the fol-, lowing to be a full,clear, and exact description' of the invention, such as Awill enableothers skilled in the art to which'it appertains to make and use thesaine. A

My invention relates to improvements in portable wire-fence-weavingmachines; and the object is to provide a simple, convenient,

and effective machine for rapidly and economto weave uphill. Fig. is avtransverse lio'ri-l zontal section through the main operating-l shaft.Fig. 6 is a detached perspective view of one of the rotary loop-forminghooks, showing the iirst position of one ofthe horizontal fence-wires inthe'hooks.v Fig. 7 is a similar view showing the loop formedon the hook.Fig. 8 is a similar view showing the formed loop released from the hookand in position to receive the vertical stay-wire, and Fig. 9 is anenlarged plan view of a section of fence as woven by my machine.

l represents a horizontal bar of angle-iron, to the outer ends of thevertical iiange of which are secured the carrying-wheels 2, whichsupport the machine.

3 represents a vertical angle-iron standard, pivoted at its lower end bythe bolt 4 to the horizontal bar l.

5 represents a fixed bracket, secured by bolts 6 about midway of thestandard, and the outer end of its arm 7 forms a bearing 8 for one endof the main shaft 9, the opposite end of which is journaled in a bracketl0, secured to the opposite side of the standard by a bolt ll.

l2 represents an integral lug on the bracket 5, in which is pivoted theupper angular end 1 3 of diagonal brace-rod 14,the lower angular end l5of which is pivoted in the hand-lever 16, fulcrumed 'on the bolt l7,secured in the vertical liange of the bar l. This same bolt also securesthe bracket in place.

The upper semicircular edge of the bracket 1S is formed with a series ofrectangular notches 19, which engage in the lower end of the slidingpawl 20, the upper end of which is connected to a rod 2l, extendingupwardly and somewhat parallel with the lever 14 and terminating in anangular handle 22. By this construction it will be seen that thestandard can be adjusted forward or backward at an inclination to thebar to correspond to the rise or fall of the gro und over which thefence is being built, the purpose of which is to form the loops in thefence-wires in a vertical plane to secure the stay-wires in aperpendicular parallel position. One of these adjusted positions isshownvin Fig. 4.

23 represents va hub fixed onvthe shaft 9, and it is provided with anintegral radialsocket 24, in which `is secured the operating-lever 25.This hub is also provided with anw integral segmental gear 2G, whichmeshes with a vertical 'rack-bar' 27, having a bearing in the angle ofthe standard, Vand is held in place by the guide-arms 28, so as to allowa free vertical movement of said rack-bar.

The forward end of .the shaft 9 is formed with a rotary hook 29, havingan inwardly spirally curved inger30, the heel 33 of which is formed witha radial spiral flange 3l. A short integral spiral iiange 42 is formedon the contiguous end of the shaft 9 concentric therewith and parallelwith the ange 3l on the'heel 33 of the finger 30.

32 represents an integral arm on the bracket 10, which extendsdiagonally across the heel 33 of the hook29 and to within a sufficientdistance of the flange 3l to leave a guideway 34 for the passage of thehorizontal fence-wire 35, which extends through said guideway under thearm 34 and also under the outer curved end of the finger 30.

3G represents a horizontal guide-arm, the

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angular baseflange 37 of which is secured by the head of the bolt 11 tothe bracket l0, and the outer end of this arm is formed with aguide-orifice 38 and an oblique slot 39, through which the wire 35 isinserted in the guide-oriiice. It will be seen that by slacking up thebolt 1l the guide-bracket can be adjusted to conform to the properalinement of the fencewire with reference to the rotary hook.

A series of brackets lO, identical in construction withthe bracket 10,are secured at suitable intervals to the standard by bolts ll', and eachbracket forms the bearing for a shaft 9, the rear end of which carries afixed segmental gear 26, which meshes with the vertically-reciprocatingrack-bar 27 and is operated thereby when the said rack-bar isreciprocated by the segmental gear on the main Shaft.

Each one of the brackets l0 is provided with an integral arm 32, andeach shaft 9 terminates in a rotary hook 29', having a spirallycurvedfinger 30 and a radial ange 3l', and a guide-arm 3G is secured in eachbracket l0 and is provided with a guide-orifice 3S and oblique slot 39for the insertion of the fence-wire.

I will now proceed to describe the operation of one of the rotaryhooksin forming the loops in the horizontal fence-wire for the reception ofthe stay-wire, and as all the hooks operate simultaneously and inexactly the same manner the description of the operation of one willanswer for all.

By referring generally to Fig. l and more particularly to Figs. 6, 7 andS it will be seen that the horizontal fence-wire 35 is first inserted inthe guide-orilice 38, through the slot 39 in the guide-arm 36, and thenpassed through the guideway 34 and under the spiral inger 30 of therotary hook 29 and the end secured to a suitable post, the coil or reelfrom which this wire is fed being suitably anchored or convenientlyfixed in the line of the proposed fence and sufficient tension appliedto the coil or wire to hold itv while the loops are being formed. Thehand-lever 25 is then thrown over into the position shown in Fig. 7,which gives a half-rotation to the hook 29, the finger of which pressesthe wire down and draws it backward and around the heel to form the openloop 40. At the same time the finger 30 is forming the rear end of theloop the spiral flange 42 is forcing the rear end of the wire outwardlytoward the heel of the finger, the combined action of the nger and iangebeing to form the loop and form itin a horizontal plane, as shown. Thelever 25 is then thrown back to its irst position. (Shown in Fig. 6.)This operation causes the spiral flange 3l on the heel of the hook toengage the loop and hold it in place on the hook between the parallelspiral iianges 3l and 42 until the lever has been thrown forward to itsfull limit, which position brings the heel of the hook in alinement withthe opening of the loop, which allows the machine to be moved forward toits next looping-point and leaves the already-formed loop in ahorizontal plane ready for the reception of the stay wire. The machineis then moved forward on its rollers to the position where the nextstay-wire is to be placed, leaving a vertical series of horizontal loops40 formed in the horizontal fence-wires, as shown in Fig. 1, and avertical stay-wire 4l is then dropped down through the series ofvertical loops 40 and its upper end is twisted around the top fencewireto secure it, leaving the immediate end ot' the stay-wire projecting, asshown, to form a barb. The lower end of the stay-wire 4l is then twistedaround the lower or bottom fence-wire and secured by twisting, theimmediate end of the stay-wire being lett proj ectin g to form a barb,as in the rst instance. The stay-wire is now secured to the top andbottom fence-wire, loosely encompassed by the loops in all thefence-wires, and when the hand-lever 25 is again operated to form a newseries of loops in the fence-wires the fingers 30, in engaging thehorizontal fencewire to form a new open loop, draws the already-formedopen loop encompassing the stay-wire longitudinally into a shaperesembling an extended spiral, and in so doing twists the stay-Wire outof the vertical line and into an approximately horizontal line in orderto form a lock-joint at the point of junction of the stay-wire with thehorizontal fence-wire. This joint when completed forms a shoulder ct onthe stay-wire above and below the fence-wire and a shoulder b on thefence-wire on each side of the stay-wire, thus preventing the horizontalfence-Wires from moving up or down on the vertical stay-wires and thevertical stay-wires from any horizontal movement in either direction onthe horizontal fence-wires.

In weaving my fence I prefer to form the picket or stay wires of a lowgrade of steel wire possessing a certain degree of resiliency, so thatthe tendency at all times of the staywire to resume its normal positionWill have the effect of contracting the longitudinal wires at the jointsto take up the expansion due to natural causes, and should an unusualaccidental strain be imparted to said longitudinal wires-as, forinstance, a tree fall across the line of fencing-the fence wires willelongate at the joints, drawing on the stay-wires in doing so, so as toexpand or elongate sufficiently to compensate for the temporary strain,and when the obstructing cause is removed the resiliency of thestay-wires will again take up the expansion of the fence-wires andrestore them to their normal position.

Having thus fully described my improved wire-fence-Weaving machine, whatI claim as new and useful, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States, is-

1. A fence-Weaving machine, comprisinga vertical standard, bracketsfixed to said standard, a transverse horizontal shaft journaled in saidbrackets and formed with an integral oscillating hook having a spirallyand inwardly curved finger extending diagonally across the rotary pathof said hook, and means substantially as described forimparting anoscillating motion to said shaft, as and for the purpose setforth.

2. A fence-weaving machine, comprising a vertical standard, bracketssecured in said standard, a transverse horizontal shaft journaled insaid brackets and having a projecting end formed withvan integraloscillating hook arranged approximately-at a right angle to said shaftand terminating in a spirally and inwardly curved linger extendingdiagonally across the rotary path of said hook, and having its heelprovided with an integral spiral flange, and a short integral spiralflange arranged parallel therewith on the contiguous end of saidhorizontal shaft, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. Awire-fence-weavin g machine, comprising the vertical standard 3, thebrackets 5 and 10, the latter formed with an integral diagonal arm 32,in combination with the horizontal shaft 9 journaled in said brackets,one end of which projects through said bracket l0 and is provided with-an integral oscillating hook 29, arranged approximately at a hook, andhaving its heel formed with an integral spiral flange 3l, and a similarflange formed on the contiguous end of the shaft 9, substantially as andfor the purpose set forth.

4. In a wire-fence-weaving machine, a rotary hook adapted to engage thehorizontal fence-wire and form an open loop, and simultaneously close apreviously-formed loop, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5l A wire-fence-weaving machine, comprising a rotary hook adapted toengage a horizontal fence-wire and form a consecutive series of openloops in said fence-wire, for the reception of a series of verticalstay-wires, and means substantially as described for simultaneouslyclosing the last previously- A formed loop, to secure the stay-wire inplace therein, in the act of forming a new loop, substantially as andfor the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

WESLEY A. HOLMES. Witnesses:

H. J. ENNrs, D. C. FINNEY.

